Man serving life for rape of 14-year-old believed to be attacker in prison kitchen homicide

Sgt. Mary Ricard was so dedicated that she came to work at Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility on her day off — the same day she was killed by an inmate.

"She wanted to make a difference," said Arkansas Valley Warden Steve Hartley. "She was a great person; very dedicated. She was there on her day off."

Ricard was killed as she supervised inmates preparing breakfast Monday for 999 inmates at the prison near Ordway. Sgt. Lori Gann was seriously injured in the same incident.

The women were attacked in the kitchen by a former Fort Carson soldier who is serving 35 years to life for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Colorado Springs in 2002, sources told 9News.

Miguel Alonso Contreras-Perez, an Army deserter sentenced in 2004 to an indeterminate prison sentence, has been transferred to the Colorado State Penitentiary in Cañon City. Investigators believe he used a sharp object to attack the officers, sources told 9News.

Ricard died at the prison. Gann was transferred to Pueblo's Parkview Hospital in Pueblo, where she is in critical condition.

Ricard, 55, began her career at Buena Vista Correctional Correctional Facility on Nov. 2, 2003 and transferred to Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility near Ordway in 2007.

"We have a shared frustration over this attack," said DOC Executive Director Tom Clements, who is in a Colorado Springs hospital recuperating from a serious bicycle accident.

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DOC spokeswoman Alison Morgan said 17 investigators from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation
and the state Inspector General's Office are on the case, but declined to release details about how Ricard was killed, what weapon was used or any details about the circumstances leading to the attack. She also would not confirm a suspect had been identified or arrested.

"She was well-liked. The staff at Buena Vista and Arkansas Valley are hurting," Morgan said Tuesday of Ricard.

Morgan said Gann's injuries were serious. "Her family is with her," she said.

Gann has worked at the prison since 2009.

Morgan said the murder and assault were isolated events, not part of a larger institutional incident.

The kitchen is similar in size and stocks implements like those found in a large college cafeteria. At the prison, staff members supervise a large number of inmate workers authorized to work with all the implements found in any other kitchen, including knives and large preparation implements.

"We provide meals for 1,000 inmates three times a day," Morgan said.

On Tuesday, inmates and staff members at Limon prepared meals for the inmates at Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility, whose inmates are in full lockdown.

All medium and closed (high) security prisons in the state are on partial lockdown so that additional staff from other prisons can assist in prison operations at Arkansas Valley, Morgan said.

Currently CBI forensic analysts are preserving and collecting evidence in the Arkansas Valley kitchen for a criminal prosecution.

"The time will come that we will look at our operations to determine what changes need to be made," Morgan said.

Arkansas Valley opened in 1987. It has held minimum, medium and closed security inmates. Arkansas Valley has 324 staff members. The prison has minimum security inmates, so they can fulfill custodial and grounds maintenance duties.

Morgan declined to comment on the security levels of the inmates involved in the fatal attack Monday morning.

"We want to preserve the integrity of the criminal justice investigation," Morgan said.

The prison is rated for 1,007 inmates and had 999 inmates on Monday when the incident happened.

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